Why I Left Teachable After 8 Years — And What I'm Doing Differently in 2026
I've been doing my review of the year. If you’re a fellow online course creator, I’m sure you'll agree 2025 was a new kind of vibe!
Course sales had a big wobble, AI got involved in everything, and — at least for me — nothing worked out quite as I’d expected.
(As you can see, ChatGPT taught me how to use an em dash properly!)
Because I know you're looking back at your year too, I’ll share my headlines in this article. It’s not a month-by-month report, but if you're wondering what to make of it all, and what comes next, maybe my story will help.
Course Sales Dropped. It is what it is.
I faced a challenging few months as my online course sales dipped in 2025. At first I didn’t panic, but then I noticed a pattern: Several offer formats that always work went dead on me.
Turns out, I wasn't alone. Course creators across the board are facing challenges in 2025. Market saturation, buyer fatigue, and the reality that the "six modules + lifetime access" course strategy just isn't working anymore. People are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of courses available, so going forward we’re gonna have to address decision fatigue in a WHOLE new way.
I noticed much lower income and had to dip into my savings for a little while. For me as a security-focused Accumulator type, that was a big challenge! If you’re ever eyeing up the job listings because nothing seems nicer than predictable money every month, trust me, I was there with you this year.
My membership kept ticking along, but it does have slower months and I’m still learning its big picture rhythms as we’ve only been going for 2 years.
This prompted me to look around for what else I can do. In May, I got lucky and landed an awesome freelance gig as an Implementer that suits me well.
One thing that's become clear for me is that there's so much challenge in changing. I worry what people will think, and this year stretched my comfort zone for it. (Good.)
Why I Left Teachable After 8 Years
I wrote a goal in January 2025 that this was going to be my last year of Teachable. I'd wanted to leave for years.
Don’t get me wrong. Teachable is NOT a bad product. But over the years, the company felt more focused on acquiring new customers instead of supporting veterans like me.
For me as someone who processes payments through Thrivecart* and doesn't need the extra products that Teachable introduced this year, the value was becoming less relevant and the price was going up too.
So yep, in 2025 I was finally ready to leave. The migration was a MONSTER project, as I had to make decisions and practically move 30+ courses I had in Teachable.
Where did I move to from Teachable?
Thrivecart Learn Dashboard
Several destinations actually!
The Fluent Language related courses moved over to Thrivecart Learn* (videos hosted in Screenpal). Overall it's been a positive experience. My students did great in the move—there was hardly any confusion for over 1,000 student accounts.
The business-related courses like Rising Tide and Fly All Your Flags moved to Squarespace (that’s where I host this website too). Fellow creator Ruth Ridgeway told me last year that Squarespace now offers course hosting in its core package and that was the missing piece. I'm not 100% happy with the purchase setup yet, but in the backend everything looks ace.
Finally, Podcasting 101 moved over to Udemy (more about that below).
I also retired a few courses, which was a brilliant way to declutter in my business. All part of clarifying my professional offer and what I want to stand for in the future.
Changing the Course Platform Meant Shedding the Shoulds
Here's the thing: I made Podcasting 101 and thought it's a brilliant course. I owed it to this course to keep selling it.
But the world's moved on and especially I've moved on.
I'm not interested (if I'm 100% honest) in creating the amount of content I'd need in order to sell it.
Udemy's a good compromise for me. The valuable course is still available to help people, but I'm now allowing it to be its own. Plus, I can run interesting new experiments to see what works in marketing the course.
My existing students didn't really mind. I sent out free vouchers for the Udemy course and a few were curious about the reasons for my choices, but overall it was a smooth migration.
Turns out, the judgment I feared was mostly in my head.
In the bigger picture, I'm going to let go of a bunch of directions and ideas that just don't work for me anymore.
What I'm Carrying Into 2026
Here's what I'm taking with me.
Finding joy in connection, collaboration, and joint ventures
AI Language Club celebrated its 2nd birthday this year and is bringing in solid revenue for my business partner and me. We love that we jumped in early on the topic of learning with AI. I'm also proud that my creative teaching methods have found a new home in there.
I really enjoy teamworking and my strengths come to shine in it.
From webinars to memberships, these never fail me.
I also discovered Podmatch* and guested on a bunch of great podcasts. It was so easy to make the connections!
When I was burnt out, guesting on podcasts was my way to rediscover the valuable points I can contribute.
When the spark goes out, I will rest and recover
When I get tired or feel that "oh god I've no plans for next week" dread, I often try to reason things out and work harder.
I come up with complex promos that don't always work, but drain my positivity and energy.
When I stay calm and tolerate the discomfort though, I can trust that I'll use the time well and get inspired. I’ve got a functional creative engine here!
What I'm really learning is that the good ideas often come to me when I'm resting. Whether it's in bed or on a bike ride, it is not sitting at my desk.
Migrating courses from Teachable to their new homes has been a great chance to revisit them
Fly All Your Flags stood out to me for its useful, calm approaches to busy times and busy minds. It's so logical!
There's a clear explanation of how to organize lots and lots of project ideas. How to start seeing your business life as a constellation instead of a "choose one" restriction. And how to translate this into action.
I promise to develop and promote it in 2026.
What Helped Me Stay Calm During This Review
A few tools and people kept me grounded this year.
Kerstin Martin's Calm Business Review – For my yearly review, I use this as a guide. Best freebie ever.
Liz Wilcox's email membership – Liz is an email marketing queen, and her templates help me get stuff done. Great way to pre-write a few emails for the coming days.
My own Notion dashboard for multi-passionate entrepreneurs – If you'd like to organize your life and business projects properly for 2026, this is the best way to do that.
Final Thought: “I’m Cookie Dough”
In 2025, I learnt (once again?) that I'm a big girl who can trust herself. Knowing myself and my inner voice got me through the year, helped along by my wonderful friends and collaborators.
I've not got a word for the year 2026 yet, or a list of goals to share. Still figuring out.
There's a line from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 7, Episode 22) that’s ringing in my nerdy ears right now. She says "I'm cookie dough. I'm not done baking." That’s kinda what I feel like too: not done baking yet as an entrepreneur, but I’m certainly here in the process.
What were your big lessons? What did you learn from 2025?
You can leave a comment, send me an email to hiya(at)kerstincable.com, or say hi on Voxer @dartogreen. Would love to hear how your year went!
P.S. If you'd like to organize your life and business projects properly for 2026, my Notion dashboard for multi-passionate entrepreneurs is the best way to do that.
What I'm enjoying this week:
For my yearly review, I use Kerstin Martin's Calm Business Review as a guide. Best freebie ever.
Liz Wilcox's email membership – Liz is an email marketing queen, and her templates help me get stuff done. Great way to pre-write a few emails for the coming days.
